Viewers were baffled after waking up to a different blonde with up-and-coming reporter Amelia Adams mysteriously replacing Allison Langdon on Today.
Amelia, 39 – who has been serving as a Nine News foreign correspondent in North America and Europe for the past four years – quietly flew back into the country to step in for the absent Ally, 43, with a TV insider spilling to Woman’s Day producers have grand plans for the star.
“They’re prepping her for when Ally finally steps away,” says the well-placed source, adding that they’re “testing the waters” to see how audiences respond to her with co-host Karl Stefanovic.
“It’s like a live chemistry test – and producers and Karl are very happy with the results.”
Is Ally being prepped for ACA?
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Karl openly praised Amelia on the show last week, with the 48-year-old calling Amelia “one of Australia’s all-time great correspondents”.
STEPPING AWAY
Ally has long been rumoured to be replacing Tracy Grimshaw on A Current Affair when she steps away from the role next month.
And while her time off the Today desk has given her time to prep for the demanding and highly coveted job, the TV insider hints that she was “not made aware” of who her replacement would be.
“She was the last to know and even though she’s been wanting ACA for some time, she still loves Today and finds it disheartening they’re testing new faces so fast.”
Tracey Grimshaw will be leaving ACA in December.
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Ally has been increasingly absent over the past few months, with little to no explanation provided for audiences.
Our spy says that while there’s been “some talk” about “potential movements” on the breakfast TV program, the move has taken producers by surprise.
Just weeks ago, Today was on track to knock its long-time competitor Sunrise off its perch in the ratings, however the show has been plagued with an endless carousel of anchors and messy editing – and has left the crew feeling uneasy.
“Today is usually such a well-oiled machine, this has everyone nervous,” says the insider.
Karl has also been absent from the desk recently and last week, viewers were met with almost 10 minutes of ads when the show was dumped from the air unexpectedly due to a “technical glitch”.
When the broadcast finally returned, hosts David Campbell and Amelia joked that the malfunction was “active sabotage” from Karl and Ally.
